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Five days after the trump administration proclaimed that "African-American unemployment stands at the lowest rate ever recorded,” the US Department of Labor reported on Friday that Black unemployment for the month of January jumped to 7.7%.

As we noted on 12/30/17 in our Fully Adjusted Return Economic Forecast summary,

"Black unemployment falls at the end of a sustained period of domestic economic growth and falls with a decline in immigration. This is counterbalanced, however, by increasing racism in general and specifically negative, anti-Black racial attitudes. Given an increase in the latter, we expect Black unemployment to increase toward the end of 2018, despite positive headwinds from reduced immigration."

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen testified on Capitol Hill on
Wednesday and Thursday. She appeared before the House Financial Services
Committee and the Senate Banking Committee. We attended both hearings.
Here are the key points:

1. An undercurrent of protest from both the left and the
right (Google #whoserecovery) is beginning to have an impact on monetary
policy. See the photo above of protesters at both hearings. We have
issues with both the left and right wing versions. The right is simply
crazy. The left is financed by labor unions. I can guarantee that none
of the black folks in the photo of protestors at the hearings below are well paid. Their labor union
managers, most of whom are white, are. (Can you say rock and a hard
place?)

2. At the start of the Senate Banking Committee hearing, Senate
Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby unveiled a letter from 30
economists who support implementation of the Taylor Rule, a mechanical
approach to monetary policy that…